Should you list your Indianapolis home as coming soon first?

Updated: November 13, 2026 · By Mark Dietel, Broker/Owner, Mark Dietel Realty · 11-minute read

Quick answer: Yes, when your home needs another week or two of prep or you want local interest before launch. For Mark Dietel Realty sellers in Indianapolis and Central Indiana, the MIBOR listing service calls it Pre-Market: you can advertise, but no one can tour the home and it stays off home-search websites until it goes Active.

What we analyzed: the MIBOR Broker Listing Cooperative Rules and Regulations (January 2026 edition), NAR's Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy (March 2025), and MIBOR closed home sales in Marion and Johnson counties for the 90 days to November 12, 2026.

Key takeaways

• On the MIBOR listing service that covers Indianapolis, Greenwood and most of Central Indiana, there is no status called "Coming Soon." The pre-launch status is Pre-Market.
• Pre-Market lets you put up a sign and tell people the home is coming. It does not allow showings, and the listing is held back from the data feeds that power home-search websites.
• Days on market do not add up while a home is Pre-Market. The clock starts when the listing goes Active.
• In recent MIBOR sales, homes that went under contract within their first month sold at about 99% of their original asking price. Homes that took longer sold for noticeably less, most after a price cut.
• Pre-Market is a timing tool. If the house is ready, the first weeks as an Active listing matter more than any wait before them.
• An office exclusive is a different choice, made for privacy, with its own seller form and its own limits.

What does "coming soon" mean on the Indianapolis listing service?

"Coming soon" is the everyday name. On the MIBOR Broker Listing Cooperative (BLC), the Indianapolis-area listing service, the status is called Pre-Market. Your agent enters it within two business days of the listing agreement, with at least two photos. You can advertise the home, but it cannot be shown or sent to home-search websites.

That last point surprises many sellers. A Pre-Market listing is in the listing service, so other agents in the cooperative know about it. MIBOR's rules say Pre-Market listings are not included in the internet display data feeds and cannot go out in automated emails. In plain terms, a buyer scrolling a home-search app at night will not see it yet. A buyer who sees your yard sign or hears about the home from an agent can.

You may find articles online that describe a "Coming Soon - No Showings" status with a time limit. Those describe other listing services or older rules. For a home listed through the MIBOR BLC, the January 2026 rules are the ones that apply, and they use the name Pre-Market.

What can and can't happen in each listing status?

Each status answers four questions: can you advertise, can people tour the home, does it reach home-search websites, and does the days-on-market clock run? Pre-Market is the only status built for "advertise now, show later." The table compares it with the statuses sellers most often ask about.

Why would a seller start as Pre-Market?

Sellers usually choose Pre-Market because the house, or the move, is not quite ready. A Pre-Market start lets the marketing begin while the final work gets done. Common reasons are painting or repairs still underway, a move-out date a week or two away, or photos scheduled after a deep clean.

There is a second reason that comes up in our listing appointments on the Southside and in Greenwood: building interest before the first weekend. A yard sign and a few posts tell neighbors and local agents what is coming. Some of those people know a buyer who wants that street. When the listing goes Active, those buyers are ready to book a showing on the first day.

What Pre-Market is not good for is testing a price. With no showings and no home-search exposure, the number of buyers who can react to your price is small. A quiet Pre-Market period tells you very little about how the price will do once the full market sees it.

What do you give up by waiting to go Active?

You give up showings, and you give up buyers who search on home-search websites and get alerts the day a home lists. A Pre-Market listing does not reach them until it goes Active. You also cannot hold an open house, since no one can tour the home in this status.

There is also a practical limit on how long the wait helps. Interest built by a sign or a post fades if the go-live date keeps moving. If you start Pre-Market, set the date you will go Active before you start, and keep it.

Our view at Mark Dietel Realty: "In our experience, the first 30 days on the market decide most sales. That is when the buyers already waiting at your price see your home, and the price they see on day one is the one they judge."

Does Pre-Market protect your days on market?

Yes, in a narrow sense. MIBOR's rules say days on market do not accumulate while a listing is Pre-Market, so the count starts on the day you go Active. That keeps the prep time from showing up as days on market.

Why sellers care: in our experience, buyers and their agents read days on market as a signal. In MIBOR closed sales over the last three months, homes that went under contract within their first 30 days sold close to their original asking price. Homes that took longer sold well below it, most often after a price cut. The table shows the split.

How to read this: the table records outcomes only. Homes that sold quickly may simply have been priced right or in better shape from the start. What it does show is that a home still on the market after its first month most often needed a price cut. These sales closed between mid-August and mid-November, and fall is part of that reading. Keeping prep time off the count helps, and the price you go Active with still has to fit the market.

How is Pre-Market different from an office exclusive or a delayed listing?

They solve different problems. Pre-Market is about timing: you want to advertise now and show later. An office exclusive is about privacy: you do not want the sale advertised at all. "Delayed marketing" is NAR's national name for holding back public marketing for a while, and each listing service decides how to offer it.

An office exclusive in the MIBOR system needs a signed Sellers Voluntary Directive to Hold Listing as Office Exclusive form, from you, your listing agent and the managing broker, within two business days of the listing date. The listing is entered but seen only by the listing agent and the managing broker. Showings can happen, but they are not booked through the listing service. If anyone markets the home publicly, including a social media post by the seller, the listing has to move to another status within one business day.

Delayed marketing came from NAR's Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, announced March 25, 2025. NAR gave listing services until September 30, 2025 to put it in place and left the details to each one. Our read of MIBOR's current rules is that the Pre-Market and Office Exclusive statuses are how a seller here gets a quiet start. Ask your agent which status fits your goal before you sign the listing agreement.

What does this look like in Central Indiana?

Here is a hypothetical example, not a real client. The owners of a $300,000 ranch in Greenwood plan to list. The interior paint will be done in 10 days, and they move out the weekend after that. They sign the listing agreement on a Monday.

The listing agreement they sign on day 1 also sets the terms of the sale in writing, including your negotiated agent compensation (enter yours). Commissions are fully negotiable and are not set by law.

What these owners gain is a clean launch: the home goes Active looking its best, with neighbors and local agents already watching for it. The cost is two weeks with no showings, which is why a house that is ready on day 1 usually goes straight to Active.

Pre-Market first, or go Active now?

Go Active now if the home is clean, repaired and photo-ready, because waiting only delays showings. Start Pre-Market if work or a move-out is still a week or two away and you can commit to a firm go-live date. These are the factors we weigh with sellers in Greenwood and on the Southside of Indianapolis.

When this doesn't apply

• The house is ready. If repairs, cleaning and photos are done, Pre-Market only delays the showings that sell homes.
• You need the sale kept private. That is an office exclusive question, with its own form and limits.
• You are selling without a listing agent. Pre-Market is a listing service status that a member broker enters; a for-sale-by-owner seller cannot use it.
• Your home may be listed in a different listing service. Ask which service your listing will use, since statuses and rules differ between services.
• You want to test a price. With no showings and no home-search exposure, Pre-Market will not tell you whether a price works.

What to do next

If you are a few weeks from listing, the next step is a plan with real dates, starting with the date the work wraps up and the date you go Active. Read what to do before listing your house in Indiana and how fast you can sell and close in Indianapolis. If you are weighing your list price, see whether to list above what the CMA says.

Prefer to talk? Call (317) 426-9911. Mark Dietel Realty has offices in Southside Indianapolis, Greenwood and Bloomington.

Frequently asked questions

Is "coming soon" the same as Pre-Market in Indianapolis?

For sellers using the MIBOR listing service, yes in practice. MIBOR's current rules do not list a "Coming Soon" status. The status that lets you advertise before showings begin is Pre-Market. It needs a signed listing agreement, prompt entry by your agent and at least two photos, and it allows no showings.

Can I put a yard sign up while my home is Pre-Market?

Yes. Pre-Market listings can be marketed. Under MIBOR's Clear Cooperation rule, which says a home marketed to the public must be shared with other agents in the listing service, a yard sign counts as public marketing. MIBOR's rules also note that Indiana license law requires a written agreement with the brokerage before any sign goes up or any advertising starts, so the listing agreement comes first.

Can a buyer's agent book a showing on a Pre-Market listing?

No. MIBOR's rules do not allow showings while a listing is Pre-Market. Once the listing goes Active, it has to be available for showings within one day of the listing date to stay Active. If a buyer asks early, the answer is the go-live date.

Will my home show up on home-search websites while it is Pre-Market?

No. MIBOR's rules say Pre-Market listings are not included in the internet display data feeds that power home-search websites and agent websites, and they cannot go out in automated emails. People learn about the home from the sign, posts, flyers or agents until it goes Active.

Does Pre-Market time count toward days on market?

No. Days on market do not add up while a listing is Pre-Market. Once the home is Active, the count runs, and it pauses during Temporary Off Market, Pending and Withdrawn. MIBOR's cumulative days on market keep adding across relistings unless the home is off the market for 91 days in a row.

Can I change my mind and pull the listing before it goes Active?

Usually, with your broker's written agreement. MIBOR's rules let a listing broker withdraw a listing before it expires when a written agreement between the seller and the broker allows it. Read the cancellation terms in your listing agreement before you sign, and ask a real estate attorney if they are unclear.

Is an office exclusive better if I want to sell quietly?

It depends on why you want quiet. An office exclusive keeps the sale off public marketing and out of other agents' view, which some sellers in a private situation want. The trade-off is far fewer buyers. It needs a signed seller form, and any public marketing ends it.

This is general information, not legal or tax advice. Listing service rules change; confirm the current rules and your listing agreement terms with your agent, and ask a real estate attorney about contract questions.

Mark Dietel Realty - offices in Indianapolis (Southside), Greenwood and Bloomington, Indiana.

Sources

• MIBOR Broker Listing Cooperative listing service, Rules and Regulations (January 2026)
• MIBOR BLC Governance and Clear Cooperation Policy guidelines
• National Association of REALTORS, "NAR Introduces New MLS Policy to Expand Choice for Consumers" (March 25, 2025)
• National Association of REALTORS, Multiple Listing Options for Sellers FAQ (updated May 21, 2025)
• MIBOR BLC closed residential sales, Marion and Johnson counties, August 14 to November 12, 2026 (IDX records, aggregates only). Based on information submitted to the Broker Listing Cooperative listing service as of November 13, 2026. All data is obtained from various sources and may not have been verified by broker or Broker Listing Cooperative listing service.